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A Crack of Light in the Polar Dark - selected image

A Crack of Light in the Polar Dark - selected child image

A Crack of Light in the Polar Dark - related image preview

Data acquired June 17, 2017
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Data acquired June 28, 2017
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A Crack of Light in the Polar Dark

Even in the dark, there are satellite instruments that allow scientists to “see” the rift growing across Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf.

This image originally appeared in the NASA Earth Observatory story A Crack of Light in the Polar Dark.

NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens and Jesse Allen, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey and modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2017) processed by the European Space Agency. Story by Kathryn Hansen with image interpretation by Christopher Shuman/UMBC JCET/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Published June 29, 2017
Data acquired June 17, 2017

Sources:: Landsat 8 > TIRS; Sentinel-1A